Vusumuzi Dube
Judith Phiri , Business Reporter
The Estate Agents Council of Zimbabwe (EACZ) has revealed that more than 70 unregistered agents were identified and blacklisted last year, as the council works towards cleaning the sector of bogus estate agencies.
EACZ is a statutory body for all persons and companies registered as estate agents in Zimbabwe, involved in the sale and leasing of properties.
Nationwide, bogus estate agents are on the rampage fleecing desperate home-seekers through exorbitant fees for non-existent properties.
Responding to questions from Sunday News, EACZ chairman Mr Nico Kuipa said they were engaging those that were caught with the aim of regularising their operations.
“We have a widespread campaign against fraudulent estate agents, and so far, more than 70 unregistered people and businesses were caught in 2022 and we have started compiling data for 2023.
We are happy to let the public know that some of these are engaging us to regularise their operations. We are also reporting bogus agents to the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP). Some of the cases are in various stages in the courts across the nation.
According to the provisions of the Estate Agents Act (Chapter 27:17), all identified fake estate agents shall be prosecuted in court,” said Mr Kuipa.
He said in order to spot and deal with fake estate agents, their compliance department was keeping an eye on all advertising boards, including online ones.
Mr Kuipa said the department further conducts spot checks in all cities on a regular basis, and this was working to thwart fraudulent estate agents.
In terms of raising awareness to the public on how they can identify bogus estate agents, he said: “Public education about the risks of engaging with fake agents is one method to combat their threat.
Through our research and publicity department, we are educating the public about dealing solely with registered estate agents and avoiding phoney players who operate without Compensation Fund Certificates using a variety of channels, including print and online media.”
Mr Kuipa said the Compensation Fund serves as a safety net, an insurance policy whereby members of the public can get compensation in the event that registered estate agents they would have hired for business have defrauded them.
He said compensating the public in the unfortunate event of a loss when dealing with estate agents was sacrosanct and done occasionally upon processes having been followed. Mr Kuipa said a Compensation Fund Certificate was required for all bonafide estate agents and agencies, while most of the agents were compliant with requirements, there were always bad apples.
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